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Endsley P. Fairman Fellowship
Family, friends and colleagues of Endsley P. Fairman
established the Endsley P. Fairman Fund at the Delaware Community
Foundation to honor his memory and devotion to philanthropy and the
nonprofit community. The fund was announced in a tribute to Mr.
Fairman at the 1998 Philanthropy Day celebration sponsored by the
National Society of Fundraising Executives (NSFRE), Brandywine
Chapter (now known as Association for Fundraising Professionals).
The fund supports the Fairman Fellowship Program. The DCF set a goal
of $100,000 for the Fairman Fund and more than $95,000 and it was
exceeded in just a few months.
Endsley Fairman was intensely interested in the
area’s nonprofit community and recognized the importance that both
mission and sound business practices play in operating a successful
organization. The Fairman Fellowship Program seeks to expand and
improve the level of management in nonprofit institutions by
offering executives the opportunity to acquire concrete business
skills and a broad, strategic view of general management in the
nonprofit sector.
Each year, a Fairman Fellow is selected to receive
financial support to attend a graduate level course in nonprofit
management. The Fairman Fellows selected thus far have received
tuition, room, board and travel expenses to attend “Strategic
Perspectives in Nonprofit Management,” an intensive, six-day
residential program offered by the Harvard Business School Executive
Education Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Executives of
Delaware and Brandywine Valley nonprofit organizations are eligible
to apply.
Endsley P. Fairman had an extraordinary impact on
the nonprofit community of the Brandywine Valley. His interest in
philanthropy grew from a 43-year career in banking at Wilmington
Trust, where he was senior vice president, secretary and head of the
Trust Department prior to his retirement in 1973. While still at the
bank, he was named one of the original trustees of the Marmot
Foundation, which was established by the will of Margaret F. du
Pont.
After retiring from Wilmington Trust, Endsley served
as Executive Secretary of the Marmot, Longwood and Welfare
Foundations. In recommending how money should be spent for each
foundation, he sought to understand the giving priorities of each
trustee and to evaluate requests accordingly. He looked at requests
in terms of a balance in community giving that would meet cultural,
environmental, social, medical and educational needs. In 1987, NSFRE
recognized Endsley for his service to the nonprofit community by
awarding him a “Special Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy.”
When NSFRE honored Endsley at the 1998 Philanthropy
Day celebration, then-President Kathy Knox called him “one of the
Brandywine Valley’s most gentle, astute and respected
philanthropists.” The Endsley P. Fairman Fund at the Delaware
Community Foundation provides a lasting legacy for this “Gentleman
of Philanthropy” who died at age 89 on May 22, 1998 in an automobile
accident. Donations to the fund may be sent to the DCF.
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